About "Classroom Quests"

"Classroom Quests" is a special series on my VRGetaway blog. As a creator passionate about transporting people to beautiful, magical worlds, I bring that same spirit of adventure and storytelling into my other passion: teaching. These posts are the official "guidebooks" for my thematic, engaging, and dragon-worthy math lessons, designed to inspire other educators to turn their classrooms into an epic quest!

🏎️ Full Throttle Learning: Introducing Linear Functions with the Velocity Design Lab

Linear Review Tied to Predictive Modeling

Linear Review Tied to Making Predictions

Welcome to the Velocity Design Lab!

How do you get students excited about y=mx+b? You turn your classroom into a high-tech vehicle design lab! In this lesson, we trade slopes for speed and y-intercepts for starting positions in a hands-on adventure that makes linear functions real, tangible, and fun. Welcome to the first quest in our new unit!

📜 Mission Briefing

🎯 Mission Objective: Students will be able to model a linear function using patterns and hands-on experiments, represent it in four ways, and use their model to make and test predictions.
⏳ Class Time: 1 x 75-minute period
📚 Subject & Level: Algebra 2 / Secondary Math 2
🗓️ Unit Schedule: Day 1 of our Comparing Functions Unit. Link to Full Unit Schedule
👻 The Adventure: Students become Engineers in the Velocity Design Lab. Their mission is to become masters of "predictive modeling" by analyzing patterns, creating blueprints for real-world prototypes, and then testing their mathematical predictions in the real world!

🎒 The Armory

📋 Supply List:

Projector/Smartboard & Google Slideshow for Class
A constant speed cars & meter sticks/stopwatches
Stacking foam cups
The **Performance Analysis Report** (Blueprint) for each student: Get the Blueprint Here
The Linear Matching Activity Linear Matching Activity
Ido Courses Assignment for Fast feedback on the Matching. IDO Matching Example Link

👕 Costume & Prop Ideas:

To become the "Lead Engineer," all you need is a lab coat, some safety goggles, and a clipboard. It's a simple costume that instantly sets the theme!

🗺️ The Walkthrough

✨ The Pre-Mission Briefing (Approx. 5 mins)

Before the adventure begins, I introduce the **10-8-6-4 self-assessment scale**. This shows students exactly what a "master-level" report looks like and sets a clear target for their work.

🚀 The Predictive Modeling Trials (Approx. 45 mins)

The Story: "Welcome, Engineers! Today, your mission is to become masters of predictive modeling. We will analyze several prototypes, create their performance blueprints, and then put our predictions to the test in the real world!"

Trial 1: The "X-Drone" Formation: We start with a simulation. I show the class the "X" pattern made of dots. As a group, we work through the first **Performance Analysis Report**, analyzing the pattern, filling out the four representations, and making two predictions.
Trial 2: The Fast Car: Now for live testing! In guilds, students analyze the fast car, fill out a new report, and make their predictions. Then comes the best part: we all go into the hall to test their predictions against reality! The excitement is amazing.
Trial 3: The Slow Car & Stacking Cups: We repeat the "analyze, predict, test" loop with the other prototypes, with me providing scaffolding and support as needed. The Final Boss

📝 The Final Certification Challenge (Approx. 20 mins)

The Story: "Engineers, you've proven you can create and test your own blueprints. For your final certification, you must now analyze a set of pre-existing data logs and match them to the correct prototypes."

The Activity: The guilds work to conquer the **Linear Matching Activity**. This is the perfect summative task to wrap up the day's adventure.

🏎️ Full Throttle Learning: Introducing Linear Functions with the Velocity Design Lab

📝 Group Mid Challenge (Approx. 20 mins)

The Story: "Engineers, you have completed your trials. It is time for your final certification. Return to your workstations and conquer this last challenge to earn your official title!"

The Activity: Students work individually or in pairs at their desks to complete the **Linear Matching Activity**. This is the perfect summative task, as it brings all the skills they just practiced in the stations together.

[Linear Matching Activity]

The Linear Matching Activity Linear Matching Activity
Ido Courses Assignment for Fast feedback on the Matching.
IDO Matching Example Link

____

👾 The Final Boss

📝 The Certification Exam

The Story: "Engineers, you have completed your trials. It is time for your final certification. This exam will test your mastery of all four performance reports. Conquer this last challenge to earn your official title!"

The Activity: For our final check, students completed a self-grading quiz on idocourses.com that gave them immediate feedback on their mastery of the four representations of linear functions.

Link to the idocourses.com Certification Exam

(Note for teachers: To get access to this amazing resource, please contact darcistone@alpinedistrict.org! Also, remember to have students hit "submit" to start a fresh version of the quiz.)

The Grand Finale: Victory Screen! 🏆

After a thrilling session of running trials and drafting blueprints, the final moment of triumph has arrived. This is the ultimate reward for the cadets' hard work—the cinematic victory screen they earned by conquering the final challenge. It's the perfect way to celebrate their success and officially close out the day's epic adventure.

Enjoy the show!

🏆 The Level Clear Screen: Engineer's Self-Assessment

The Story: "Your certifications are complete! Now, file your final performance review with the Lead Engineer. A great engineer always reflects on their work."

The Activity: On the back of their Unit Check-off Schedule, students complete their Self-Reported Grade.

10 (Lead Engineer!): I have mastered these systems and can design my own prototypes.
8 (Junior Engineer!): I am very close to mastery. I'm confident with most of the specs.
6 (Apprentice!): I can follow a blueprint with some help, but I need more practice.
4 (Intern...): I'm still learning the basics and will need more guidance.